South Sea Island, Cleveland, OH (restaurant)

Name:South Sea Island
Type:restaurant
Street:14916 Puritas Ave
City:Cleveland
State:OH
Zip:
country:USA
Phone: 216-251-5111-2
Status:defunct

Description:

Dustycajun once said, "It never ceases to amaze me when an old, never-before documented Tiki place pops up in the Tiki rich Southern California area." Well, we feel the same way about SoCal Tiki, and we also feel the same way about Cleveland area Tiki. Because we keep finding little places which shows there must have been some rich Tiki dynasty in the Cleveland area from the 1940s through the 1970s.

Found this matchbook not long ago

[ Edited by mike and marie on 2026-03-01 17:20:47 ]

[ Edited by mike and marie on 2026-03-01 17:20:58 ]

[ Edited by mike and marie on 2026-03-01 17:21:41 ]

Notice a few interesting things here with the address and number. It's Cleveland so it would be in the 216 area code, but the number is listed as "251-5111-2". Now 251 was a prefix for the West Park neighborhood of Cleveland, which is where this was located. But what's up with the -2 suffix? We are thinking this was a party line number, shared with another establishment... For a long time that number was for a company called Fitness Serve, but now it's registered as a residential landline.

As for the address, it doesn't exist anymore. There's now a Burger King at 14902, and 14930 is a check cashing place. But the latter building does look like it could've once been a somewhat modest but inviting Tiki restaurant...

Great to see a fresh discovery. Thanks for posting 👍